TDF 2019: Stage 9, Saint-Étienne > Brioude 14/07/2019 - 170,5 km *Spoilers*
blazing_saddles
Posts: 20,519
Saint-Étienne > Brioude 14/07/2019 - Stage 9 - 170,5 km
The 9th stage of the Tour de France runs from Saint-Étienne to a tricky finale in Brioude, the birthplace of Romain Bardet. The route amounts to 170.5 hilly kilometres. In 2017, Warren Barguil gave France its first French Bastille Day winner since 2005. Obviously, French fans love to see Romain Bardet win the stage in his hometown.
The race gets underway in Saint-Étienne and travels from one hill to the next. The route barely features a flat metre. The hardest climb, the Mur d'Aurec-sur-Loire, comes early on (36.5km). There are then two Cat 3 climbs, the second one 13km before the finish. That is also the bonus point.
-photo-archives-remi-barbe-1547901066.jpg)
The Mur d’Aurec-sur-Loire is a 3.2 kilometres climb at 11% is crested at kilometre 36.5, so way too early to have any lasting effect.
It will add to the fatigue though, as will the second KOM climb, Côte de Guillaumanches, which is 7.8 kilometres long and slopes at 4.1%. The summit is crested with more than 60 kilometres remaining.
After the Guillaumanches the route continues on undulating terrain to a promising finale. With 12.5 kilometres out the Tour de France crests the steep Côte de Saint-Just (3.6 kilometres at 7.2%) and the first three riders over the summit earn bonus seconds (8, 5 and 3) before flying down to the line. Halfway in the descent the route kicks up only to continue downhill to Bardet’s birthplace.
Favourites 9th stage 2019 Tour de France
Bastille Day invites attackers to go all out. Is the early break going to be successful? Possibly. But a late attack is more likely to succeed, since the Côte de Saint-Just climb at 7.2% is crested 12.5 kilometre before the finish, while the road runs virtually all downhill from the top.
*** Julian Alaphilippe, Peter Sagan, Matej Mohoric
** Michael Matthews, Vincenzo Nibali, Maximilian Schachmann
* Tim Wellens, Romain Bardet, Luis Leon Sanchez, Greg Van Avermaet
Brioude
One previous stage
Population: 7,100 and 18,400 in the 27 communes of Brioude Sud Auvergne.
Brioude is first and foremost known to the cycling lover as the hometown of Romain Bardet, second in the Tour de France in 2016 and third in 2017. The leader of the Ag2R-La Mondiale outfit was born here on November 9, 1990 and took his first license at the Vélo Sport Brivadois in 2000. He joined the training structure of Ag2R-La Mondiale, Chambéry CF, in 2010. Rhe rest of the story is better known.
The city of Haute-Loire received the Tour only once in the past, in 2008, for the start of a stage won authoritatively in Aurillac by Spaniard Luis Leon Sanchez.
In 2013, a Paris-Nice stage was convincingly won by American Andrew Talansky, on a day when the young local runner, then 22 years old, finished 6th. In 2014, the first stage of the Tour de l'Avenir ended in Brioude with a victory by Kristoffer Skjerping, then the under-23 Norwegian champion. After two seasons with Cannondale, Skjerping failed to convince at World Tour level and returned to Norway.
Brioude and Bardetmania
For the town of Brioude, Romain Bardet is a lot more than just the local favourite. As the municipality wrote on its website: “Romain Bardet does not only make Brioude people feel proud, he also puts the city and its population in the media light like never before.” The celebrity of the leading French hope in the Tour de France, 2nd in 2016 and 3rd in 2017, was a major asset in Brioude’s quest for a Tour de France finish in 2019.
The Community of communes of Brioude already designed six Romain Bardet circuits around the town on the rider’s training roads. Traced by Bardet’s father and his local cycling club, the routes are marked with a distinctive RB logo. The circuits are open to cyclists of all levels and their difficulty is signalled by a colour code, like on ski slopes.
Now the city of Brioude is determined to go a step further by launching a major plan to make cycling an economic and tourist attraction. The Brioude, ville de vélo (Brioude, cycling town) project aims at developing activities around cycling along the Bardet circuits and other initiatives. A cycling and mountain bike section is already opening in one of the town’s high schools.
Specialties: Auvergne meats / cheeses (Saint-nectaire, cantal, bleu d’Auvergne, Fourme d'Ambert),
apple pump, tripoux, lentils, stuffed cabbage. Saint Géron water (slightly sparkling).
The 9th stage of the Tour de France runs from Saint-Étienne to a tricky finale in Brioude, the birthplace of Romain Bardet. The route amounts to 170.5 hilly kilometres. In 2017, Warren Barguil gave France its first French Bastille Day winner since 2005. Obviously, French fans love to see Romain Bardet win the stage in his hometown.
The race gets underway in Saint-Étienne and travels from one hill to the next. The route barely features a flat metre. The hardest climb, the Mur d'Aurec-sur-Loire, comes early on (36.5km). There are then two Cat 3 climbs, the second one 13km before the finish. That is also the bonus point.
The Mur d’Aurec-sur-Loire is a 3.2 kilometres climb at 11% is crested at kilometre 36.5, so way too early to have any lasting effect.
It will add to the fatigue though, as will the second KOM climb, Côte de Guillaumanches, which is 7.8 kilometres long and slopes at 4.1%. The summit is crested with more than 60 kilometres remaining.
After the Guillaumanches the route continues on undulating terrain to a promising finale. With 12.5 kilometres out the Tour de France crests the steep Côte de Saint-Just (3.6 kilometres at 7.2%) and the first three riders over the summit earn bonus seconds (8, 5 and 3) before flying down to the line. Halfway in the descent the route kicks up only to continue downhill to Bardet’s birthplace.
Favourites 9th stage 2019 Tour de France
Bastille Day invites attackers to go all out. Is the early break going to be successful? Possibly. But a late attack is more likely to succeed, since the Côte de Saint-Just climb at 7.2% is crested 12.5 kilometre before the finish, while the road runs virtually all downhill from the top.
*** Julian Alaphilippe, Peter Sagan, Matej Mohoric
** Michael Matthews, Vincenzo Nibali, Maximilian Schachmann
* Tim Wellens, Romain Bardet, Luis Leon Sanchez, Greg Van Avermaet
Brioude
One previous stage
Population: 7,100 and 18,400 in the 27 communes of Brioude Sud Auvergne.
Brioude is first and foremost known to the cycling lover as the hometown of Romain Bardet, second in the Tour de France in 2016 and third in 2017. The leader of the Ag2R-La Mondiale outfit was born here on November 9, 1990 and took his first license at the Vélo Sport Brivadois in 2000. He joined the training structure of Ag2R-La Mondiale, Chambéry CF, in 2010. Rhe rest of the story is better known.
The city of Haute-Loire received the Tour only once in the past, in 2008, for the start of a stage won authoritatively in Aurillac by Spaniard Luis Leon Sanchez.
In 2013, a Paris-Nice stage was convincingly won by American Andrew Talansky, on a day when the young local runner, then 22 years old, finished 6th. In 2014, the first stage of the Tour de l'Avenir ended in Brioude with a victory by Kristoffer Skjerping, then the under-23 Norwegian champion. After two seasons with Cannondale, Skjerping failed to convince at World Tour level and returned to Norway.
Brioude and Bardetmania
For the town of Brioude, Romain Bardet is a lot more than just the local favourite. As the municipality wrote on its website: “Romain Bardet does not only make Brioude people feel proud, he also puts the city and its population in the media light like never before.” The celebrity of the leading French hope in the Tour de France, 2nd in 2016 and 3rd in 2017, was a major asset in Brioude’s quest for a Tour de France finish in 2019.
The Community of communes of Brioude already designed six Romain Bardet circuits around the town on the rider’s training roads. Traced by Bardet’s father and his local cycling club, the routes are marked with a distinctive RB logo. The circuits are open to cyclists of all levels and their difficulty is signalled by a colour code, like on ski slopes.
Now the city of Brioude is determined to go a step further by launching a major plan to make cycling an economic and tourist attraction. The Brioude, ville de vélo (Brioude, cycling town) project aims at developing activities around cycling along the Bardet circuits and other initiatives. A cycling and mountain bike section is already opening in one of the town’s high schools.
Specialties: Auvergne meats / cheeses (Saint-nectaire, cantal, bleu d’Auvergne, Fourme d'Ambert),
apple pump, tripoux, lentils, stuffed cabbage. Saint Géron water (slightly sparkling).
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
0
Posts
And a lovely Aubrac cow...
Vuillermoz involved again, too
Then Movistar launch a rider.....
Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet
Who’s in it?
Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet
Cheers.
Bets on who’s got this then?
My money is on Stuyven
Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet
Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet
Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet
Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet
Rui's had enough of chasing....
yeah going out to a min...